Celtic skipper Scott Brown is a major doubt for tonight’s Europa clash against Salzburg and Sunday’s game with St Johnstone.
The mainstay is suffering from a hamstring strain that stopped him from training on Wednesday.
Brendan Rodgers has also ruled out Filip Benkovic and Tom Rogic, but Odsonne Edouard should be available.
“We’ll need to have a look at Broony”, Rodgers said in the Scottish Sun. “He could be struggling. He didn’t train this morning [Wednesday].”
And Rodgers admitted he might not be back for the weekend game either, saying, “If he’s no good for the weekend, he’ll be back after the international break.”
OPINION
This would be a major blow for Celtic. Brown is the lynchpin of the Celtic side and fans will be desperately hoping that he comes through a late fitness test. This is possibly Celtic’s toughest test in the Europa League, against a good Red Bull Salzburg side who have also won their opening game against sister side Red Bull Leipzig, and Rodgers has already confirmed the absence of Tom Rogic. He will be back for the weekend but hasn’t travelled with the squad to Austria. Brown would be an even bigger miss and if he can’t make the weekend match either he’ll be out until the game against Hibs on October 20. A draw tonight would be a good result. If Celtic can keep winning their home games – and they kicked off with a good 1-0 win against Rosenborg – and get something from their travels, they should still be playing in Europe after Christmas.